Return to you
by Sasusakutrash22
Summary: Prequel to Sakura im home, in which Sasuke contemplates Returning to Konoha


Sasuke walked along the sandy beach in deep thought, he had felt at peace since his battle with Fuushin and Chino, and being able to free all those ninja from the colosseum. It finally felt like his road to redemption wasn't in vain, like he was finally starting to make up for his sins.

Sasuke suddenly heard his hawk screech from the sky. Sasuke held out his lone arm, his hawk landed gracefully. Sasuke grabbed the note attached to his hawks leg. He opened the note with his only hand and teeth.

" So messy, it's Naruto's writing", Sasuke said.

" ** _Sasuke, you're not in the village but your still protecting it, Sakura thinks that your just like the police force"._**

Sasuke's eyes widened with shock, he felt his heart tug. He thought back to the day he told his brother he wanted to join the police force, like their father. Sasuke smiled

"It's been awhile, maybe I'll go home" Sasuke said.

Sasuke walked slowly, his feet started to lag.. He was close, very close. It had been two whole years since he'd left Konoha for the second time. Sasuke felt something in the pit of his stomach.. He was nervous, he hadn't felt like this since he fought Itachi. (Did he even deserve to be in the very village he'd abandoned and once swore to destroy)

He knew the answer, no he didn't, his trudging feet came to a halt. He sighed deeply, maybe this had been a mistake. He walked off the path home, he wandered a ways into the forrest. After about 20 minutes he walked over to a lone cherry blossom tree and sat under it. He layed his head on the hard tree trunk, with his eyes closed and thoughts racing. He knew if he returned to the village he may make it a target, just as he almost had with the exploding human incident.

He vowed to protect Konoha, even if that meant him staying away in order to keep it safe. A strong gust of wind started to blow, he heard it rustle loudly through the trees. Suddenly something soft landed on his forehead. He slowly opened his eyes and his hand automatically reached to the object that tapped his forehead.

He let it fall to the palm if his only hand. He smiled at the cherry blossom resting there. "Sakura, huh"? His smiled deepened. Sasuke thought back to two years prior .. when he left the village. She had shyly asked to come with him, but she had nothing to do with his sins, so he declined her offer.

He remembered how devastated she looked, he felt the sudden urge to reach out and comfort her but refrained, he didn't know why he always decided to not show affection towards her, Kami knows she deserved at least that much from him, but no he could never bring himself to do it. Instead he had lightly tapped her forehead, just as his brother so often did to him, and as sincerely as he's ever said anything, he thanked her from the bottom of his heart, and left with a promise to see her when he got back.

(Thats right he thought, he did promise to see her when he got back) Flashes of Sakura went through his mind, her smile, her brilliant green eyes, her caring nature, even her sweet melodic voice. Sasuke quickly shook the images from his mind. He needed to be level headed about this decision, and for whatever reason Sakura always made Sasuke think with his heart over his head, though he'd never admit it out loud.

He shut his eyes and sighed deeply, he thought hard, he had been away from home for a long while now, and though he hated to admit it he did have people who cared about him and who he cared about back in Konoha. This was the first time that he didn't know what he was supposed to do next, if only something would give him even an inkling of what to do. The wind blew harder then, the cherry blossom flowers swirled around him, trapping him in a cyclone of pink.

Sasuke smirked, his mind flashed images of Sakura. He thought about her as a loud, and brash Genin. He thought of her as a hard working and determined teen, and he thought of her now as a beautiful, smart, and powerful Kunoichi. He snapped himself back again, "Tsk, annoying woman", he grumbled.

When exactly had she gotten under his skin! He sighed and rested his back against the cherry blossom tree again.. He thought back. " _Alone.. solitude, you have no idea what it means to be alone", his 12 year old voice echoed in his head. That was the first time he called her annoying, at first it just irked him how clueless she was, but the more he had thought on it, he realized he wasn't really that mad at her... but at himself, because he had once thought that way about Naruto as well.. before the massacre._

He thought more. _It was dark, and quiet, he was cold and alone in complete darkness, in all honesty he was scared.. then suddenly he had heard a faint sobbing sound, and slowly he started to see light again. As he opened his eyes he felt someone on top of him and they were crying. "Sakura it's hard to breathe while your on top of me", his 12 year old self had grunted out. "Sasuke", the pink haired girl yelled. "He's alive"! She hugged him tightly._

Sasuke's mind wandered further. _He remembered it was dark again, he felt a burning sensation on his neck like fire. Then suddenly the fire began to spread through his entire body, but he didn't feel pain.. no.. He felt.. power and it coursed through him like lightning through a metal rod._

 _His eyes snapped open to see a sight that enraged him.. it was Sakura badly beaten and bruised. At that moment he had a one track mind kill..kill whoever did that to his comrade. He went on a rampage, cutting down the sound ninja, and before he could finish the job , he heard her._

 _"Stop! Please turned back into the Sasuke in know"! He felt her arms wrap around him, and for the first time since he awoke, he felt calm and at peace, the curse mark had receeded._

Sasuke, now back in the present, felt his heart tug at the memory. More memories flashed before him. _He was down, and almost completely out of chakra, from overuse of his Chidori. Gaara of the sand and pummeled him to a pulp, he felt him approach, he knew then he was done for, when out of nowhere.. she was there standing..no crouching in a fighting stance in order to keep him safe. With kunai in hand she stood like a stone wall, Sasuke sensed no fear in the young Kunoichi._

 _Then faster than he could think.. she was pinned to a tree being crushed by sand. He felt so useless, Naruto had been the one to save her.. He had been jealous of the way she smiled at him when he told her the truth. He thought he was just angry that he wasn't strong enough to save her and Naruto was, but that was only half truth, in all honesty, he hated that she smiled at Naruto and not him, like she always did._

Then.. then when he left.. That night _somehow she knew that he'd be going. She confessed that she loved him and he could only listen, at that point in his life he had no time for love, only vengence._

If he was being truthful the reason he had never rejected her, even the second time before his final battle with Naruto, was because he **_couldn't_** say he didn't love her, because he wasnt even sure if that was really true. He knew he felt something for her, but he couldn't pin the exact emotion, for he had never felt it before.. but now he knew he loved her.

He had found her annoying at age 12, he cared deeply for her even valuing her as someone precious to him at 13. At 16 he had tried to surpess any feeling towards her at all even going as far to almost kill her to break that bond he once had with her. At 17 he had been grateful to her and let himself care for her once more... and now at 19 he knew he loved her. He heard thunder rolling through the clouds, it would rain soon, he stood slowly and looked toward the direction of Konoha.

In Konoha*

Sakura stood on her terrace gazing at the sunset. She averted her gaze to the flashes of lightning in the distacnce She automatically thought of Sasuke and smiled. It had been two whole years since she'd seen his face and she missed him so much it ached.

She would see the new couples in Konoha and look at them with a heavy heart. Almost all her friends had been paired up with the loves of their lives.. even Naruto, he and Hinata had recently been married. While Sakura was happy for her friends she was also a bit saddened by her lack of happily ever after. Although she didn't really expect that from Sasuke, she knew it wouldn't be easy for them, after all nothing ever was when it came to them. She just wished to see him, to be near him, by his side..always.

Sakura sighed and clutched her hands to her chest as tears flowed down her face. " I just wish you'd come home.. Sasuke.. just as his name left her lips a chilly breeze blew past her picking up stray cherry blossom flowers from the tree near her apartment, she stared at the dancing pink flowers as they flew away into the distance.

Sasuke, still staring in the direction of Konoha, felt and icy gust of wind hit him, again carrying cherry blossoms, he closed his eyes. Sasuke heard a faint familiar sound reach his ears, "Sasuke", the wind howled.

His eyes sprang open. Thunder rolled through the heavens and lightening split the sky, rain drops fell to the earth but none of that mattered to Sasuke all he did was whisper her name, "Sakura", and then.. Sasuke ran.


End file.
